Work in Progress
Types of Work
The nature of working within the National Park is that most projects are alterations or extensions to existing
Practice Profile
Some Typical Sites
Here I am, William Sutherland, a Chartered Architect living and practicing in Ambleside as WS Architecture Ltd.
A short biography: born in Inverness, a graduate of Edinburgh University, I began my professional career in the Ambleside office of local Architects Gill, Dockray, Rhodes and Moore.
Some years later I joined my friend and ex-colleague at GDR&M, Ian Robinson RIBA in his own Practice at Clappersgate just outside the village. A kind and generous man and a talented Architect Ian died tragically young which prompted me to start my own Practice, which continues very successfully to this day, over two decades later.
Most of my work is within the central area of the Lake District National Park. Altering existing or creating new, houses, cottages and conversions, often featuring local materials and traditional skills. Recent projects increasingly feature the latest glazing technology married to local stone and I maintain a strong interest in the history, sourcing and continuing use of local materials.
A feature of my work is the use of technology to help clients visualise designs, which encourages their creative involvement. It also has major benefits in the detail design and documentation stages of a project.
Other interests: Apart from fell walking my other interest is playing drums in bands - something I have done all my life and you may still see me behind an array of (these days electronic) drums at venues around the area.
William Sutherland
WS Architecture Ltd
Ambleside
The office
Architect
I tend to work mostly on my own, bringing in or suggesting as needed a team member from my network of trusted local consultants and contractors, tailored for each project.
Clients
My client base extends far beyond the Lake District as this area of outstanding natural beauty attracts clients from all over the World. It is one of the pleasures of my job to meet people who are looking to create, alter or buy property here.
Clients living or working abroad or having their main residence elsewhere in the UK regularly ask me to organise work on their behalf and it is quite normal to be dealing largely via email and the internet. I am a frequent key holder and point of contact for many clients with property locally when they are looking for recommendations or other local services.
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Software
My main design software is Autodesk Revit, with Autodesk 3D Studio Max for rendering models and for 'walking' clients around the virtual building in real time, but I have full subscription licences for all the usual software found in the industry today - Autodesk Autocad, Trimble Sketchup Pro, Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign etc.), Microsoft Office 365
Working on a typical project
Something most clients don't see until later in the job - working on the early stages of an alterations project (screenshot)
From the model to rendered output
The model produces the drawings semi-automatically in my system and also updates them in real time. I link the Autodesk Revit file into another software package by Autodesk, 3D Studio Max which allows real-time 'walkthroughs' (i.e. using a computer screen and a 3D mouse to wander around inside the virtual building)
A powerful network rendering 'node' (a specially built PC) allows me to create rendered images ('rendering' just means that the computer calculates rays of light falling on a building and bouncing around which results in a near photo-realistic image) of the building model very quickly. The rendered image below is the sort of illustration produced to assist clients' understanding and occasionally help with planning applications if appropriate.
Replacement garage and new outbuilding for bio-mass store, bicycle store and annexed accommodation near Grasmere
← Top locations of Visitors to this website since
13th September 2015
Works
Most of my projects are within 10 miles of Ambleside.
Generally in and around Ambleside, Grasmere, Coniston, Hawkshead, Troutbeck and Windermere but I occasionally work further afield. Mostly alterations and extensions to residential properties such as cottages, barn conversions, Listed Buildings but also one-off houses and rural housing for local people by local landowners.
No project is too small - as well as the larger projects illustrated around the website I have designed porches, outbuildings, garages, garden rooms, gyms, log buildings, chimneys, kitchen and bathroom extensions, swimming pools, follies, boat houses, jetties, bars, chapels, balconies...
Alternative energy installations are routine now but having been involved in such schemes since the early days I can usually advise on what might work in a particular building or point you to a good specialist.
Many properties in the area are still on private drainage and/or private water supply (I have seen a farmhouse sink with 5 taps for cold water from different sources) and this is something I routinely deal with and can recommend a specialist consultant.
Equipment
My clients know of my fondness for the latest gadgets but it is all to the purpose of streamlining and improving the design and construction process.
I still receive a lot of hand drawn sketches as well as many old and historic plans and so have developed scanning techniques over many years for bringing these into computer readable format as accurately as possible.
The device on the left for example is a recent investment - the latest hand-held 3D laser measure from Leica which is proving a timesaver on building surveys as it measures points in space as well as lengths.
Clients quite regularly call in to the office for a real-time modelling session on the large screens which I find a very efficient way of refining designs.
Although drawings are often distributed in Acrobat pdf format I still like to have the facility to send out paper drawings and to give builders 'proper' drawings at construction stage and to this end I have an A0 Canon inkjet plotter.
CAD workstations for some years now have been custom built for me by Workstation Specialists in Derby - about my only use for a PC these days is 3D cad and model rendering as all admin is done on Mac Pro, Macbook Pros or iOS devices. Increasingly admin is carried out online.
Apart from networked storage and physical backup I have online automatic backup systems for critical files. Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) recently arrived in Ambleside which has greatly improved internet access speeds. I have a business class internet connection via specialist ISP in London who also provide my web hosting and email servers outwith Apple email.
A flight of external slatestone steps under construction
Always interesting to see what is happening on site. Below are some general images taken during site visits
Another site in Grasmere - the joinery, slate hanging and leadwork are extremely well done
A site in Troutbeck - the stone facing is very good, using old weathered rubble hand picked from quarry waste heaps - time consuming and skilled work even if available
More on the site above Grasmere - finishing the slate paving and stone pillars
Still more on the site above Grasmere - showing the unusual slate-faced cantilevered walling - and more stone pillars
Complete remodelling of a house Ambleside showing new roofs and chimneys under protective canopy during works
Many different types of local slate and surface finish used on this house above Grasmere
Routine in cottage alterations but seldom seen by most people is what's inside a Lake District rubble stone wall
An informal site meeting beside the stone columns supporting a balcony above, on the slate paved terrace
Nice setting for this site picture of ongoing renovation and remodelling works on a house overlooking Grasmere
William Sutherland rias riba
Chartered Architect
Director
Cluan, Rydal Road, Ambleside LA22 9BA
Tel: 015394 34489
